Victoria E. Cosgrove, Ph.D.

Fellow in Child & Adolescent Depression

Project Details

PROJECT TITLE

Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Alter Stress-Induced Inflammatory Response in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder?

PROJECT SUMMARY

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may be effective in ameliorating depressive symptoms as well as staving off the full expression of bipolar disorder (BD) in youth. In addition to teaching ways to identify and modify harmful moods and troublesome automatic thoughts, CBT teaches skills and techniques to manage and reduce how an individual responds to stress in the environment. Measuring response to stress, mediated in part by inflammatory pathways, may elucidate mechanisms of response to CBT, ultimately determining who is most likely to benefit, improving depressive symptoms, and possibly avoiding progression to full BD in high risk youth. The specific, short-term objective of Dr. Cosgrove’s KTGF project is to determine whether participation in group CBT alters inflammatory response to a laboratory psychosocial stress test in youth with or at high risk for BD and if this alteration is related to a decrease in depressive symptoms. We will recruit youth with BD I and youth at high risk for BD ages 12-17 from the Stanford Pediatric Bipolar Disorders Clinic for participation in an “open trial” of group CBT focused on teaching stress-reduction techniques. Altering response to environmental and psychosocial stress via CBT may alter levels of expression in inflammatory genes and resulting protein production associated with such stress. The proposed study is important because it explores potential biological correlates of response to CBT, potentially leading us closer to a mechanism of treatment and/or prevention of BD in youth.

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